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Saturday, October 19, 2013

Chocolat Coconut Brûlée

I rarely make desserts nowadays, or at least, so it seems. (I eat plenty of sweets, just not anything fancy. Or well, prepared.) So, as we haphazardly invited friends for dinner, I decided it was well about time to make something proper. And I had a lot of rhubarb to harvest. I decided on a variation on crème brûlée, with a rhubarb compote at the bottom. And coconut milk in lieu of regular milk, for a tropical touch. The recipe I used, from the cookbook "Strawberries and rhubarb" (a Danish book, by Sandra Leigh Dreznin) stated that it was enough for four servings. Instead, I got twelve. For the last four, I didn't have enough rhubarb since I was a bit too generous in the beginning, so I added a small handful of chocolate chips to each ramekin before pouring on the coconut-cream mixture. THAT turned out to be genious. The rhubarb ones turned out too watery and soggy, but the chocolate ones were delicious.

Combine cream and coconut milk in a saucepan, scrape out the vanilla bean and the seeds and the whole bean, and heat until boiling.

Beat the egg yolks and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add a spoonful of the warm cream mixture and whisk well, to temper the yolks. Then pour the yolks into the sauce pan and whisk well to combine. Heat on medium heat for a few minutes, but don't let it boil. It should thicken slightly.

Divide the chocolate between the ramekins, and then top with the cream-egg mixture. Place the ramekins in a large roasting dish. Pour warm water in the dish, to about half the height of the ramekins. Bake at 150°C for about 40-50 minutes. They should be just set. Cool, and let sit in the fridge for at least one hour but preferrably more.

Just before serving, sprinkle with sugar and use a small torch to caramelize the surface.